Improved pitching gives Portales an optimistic outlook

Posted: Tuesday, March 28, 2000

STEVE BELVINGlobe-News Sports Writer

Coach Melvin Nusser believes he has the artillery to get his Portales Rams over the hump during this baseball season.

The Rams, who finished 10-10 last year, had a team batting average above .350 but an earned-run average above 7.00. So it's not difficult to figure out why they only broke even. If they couldn't outhit anybody, they had a difficult winning.

Portales, 2-2 so far this year, have basically the same hitters back, but the pitching staff has beefed up some, especially since the arrival of Jamie Juardo, a senior transfer from Amarillo Palo Duro. Juardo help lead the Dons to their first-ever playoff appearance last year.

Juardo figures to be the Rams' ace this season although he's started 1-2. He had a rough season opener, a 17-4 loss to Clovis, and lost a tough game to Aztec, 6-1, in the Silver City tournament as the Rams were held hitless.

Juardo pitched 1 2/3 innings and hit two home runs in an 11-4 win against San Jacinto.

"Jamie didn't pitch very well against Clovis," said Nusser. "They scored 11 runs in the first inning. He had trouble getting his fastball down, so most of the pitches he threw for strikes were curves. He will definitely help our pitching staff, though."

The second man in the rotation is junior George Ochoa, who has a good fastball in the low 80s (mph). Then there's Jerald Sisneros and left hander Fabian Lopez.

"Jorge has a good fastball; Jerald is just bulldog tough, he keeps the batter off balance," said Nusser. "When Fabian throws it to the plate, it looks like a beach ball. He has a lot on the ball. He'll complement Jamie. We can start Jamie and then send Fabian out there. Talk about a contrast."

Hitting-wise, Nusser isn't worried. He returns Lopez, who led the team in hitting with a .512 average. There also Dusty Nusser, the coach's son, who led the team in on-base percentage last season.

"Fabian got a late start because of basketball, but he's got the best hand-eye coordination of any one on the team," said Nusser. "Dusty will bat cleanup for us. He batted .360 last year and loves to crowd the dish. Counting summer league last year, he got hit by pitches 26 times."

There's also Juardo, second baseman John Bamforth and outfielders Danny Kemp and Kurtis Kemp.

`'We have five or six guys in the lineup that are hard to get out." said Nusser. "We'll also be tougher defensively. You know in high school baseball, if you've got good pitching, you've got a chance to win. I think we've got good pitching this year. We won't be satisfied with anything less than going to the state tournament."